Jacquard heald with elastic retracting cord

ABSTRACT

A Jacquard heald is secured to a fastening hook or element by an elatic retraction cord gripped at its ends by helical spirals on the heald and hook. The inner diameter of the spirals is slightly smaller than the cross-sectional diameter of the cord, whereby the latter is securely held in the spirals.

United States atent Vogelbacher [451 May 27, 1975 JACQUARD I-IEALD WITH ELASTIC RETRACTING CORD Erich Vogelbacher, l-lorgen, Switzerland Grob & Co. Aktiengesellschaft, I-lorgen, Switzerland Filed: Aug. 1, 1973 Appl. No.: 384,540

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 4, 1972 Switzerland 11580/72 US. Cl 139/89; 24/115 R; 24/131 C; 139/85 Int. Cl D03c 3/44; D03c 9/04 Field of Search 139/89, 90, 85, 93, 94, 139/95, 96; 24/115 R, 129 C, 131 C References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1904 Ramsey 24/131 C FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,186,385 2/1959 France 139/85 1,111,714 11/1955 France 24/115 4/1925 United Kingdom 24/115 Primary ExaminerHenry S. Jaudon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sughrue, Rothwell. Mion, Zinn and Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A Jacquard heald is secured to a fastening hook or e1- ement by an elatic retraction cord gripped at its ends by helical spirals on the heald and hook. The inner diameter of the spirals is slightly smaller than the crosssectional diameter of the cord, whereby the latter is securely held in the spirals.

2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures JACQUARD HEALD WITH ELASTIC RETRACTING CORD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a Jacquard heald with an elastic retracting cord which is connected at one end to the lower part of the heald and at the other end to a fastening element.

2. Description of the Prior Art Jacquard healds with elastic retractors are known in the prior art in various different configurations. In the modern Jacquard weaving method they replace more and more the conventional pull-down by means of lingoes, since in high speed looms the lingoes cannot drop fast enough.

Elastic retractors have been made of helical downpull springs, fine rubber tubes, natural rubber threads, and synthetic rubber threads which are covered with cotton or rayon. Different opinions exist about the suitability of these various alternatives. Threads made of Lycra are also desirable since with this material an appropriate spring characteristic and high rupture strength can be achieved. The employment of such Lycra threads created problems, however, because the connections between the Jacquard heald and the elastic thread on one end and between the elastic and the fastening element on the other end could not be solved properly.

Up to now the elastic threads were knotted on the Jacquard healds and on the fastening elements. This operation is very time-consuming and furthermore the knots disturb the smooth movement of the Jacquard healds during the weaving process. It was also noted that the elastic threads were worn at the place where the elastic entwines the metal parts, which lead to covering the knotted portions with fine shrinking tubes or coating them with plastic material. In that manner the knots could partly be omitted whereby the elastic threads are inserted into loops or hooks of the metal parts and kept firmly in their position by means of the above mentioned shrinking tubes or other covers. Although these methods proved to be satisfactory, the manufacture is very tedious and therefore very expensive. This has until now considerably cut-down the wider application of the Lycra threads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention avoids the disadvantages of the known connections between the elastic threads and the metal parts of the Jacquard healds and the fastening elements respectively, and on the other hand creates a connection which can be easily and automatically manufactured and which requires very little space.

The invention is characterised in that the connecting element between the Jacquard heald and the fastening element respectively and the elastic thread is provided by means of a helical spiral whose end entwines the elastic thread, the inside diameters of the spirals being smaller than the diameter of the elastic thread before the latter has been squeezed into the spiral.

The connection between the spirals and the ends of the elastic thread can additionally be improved by applying a glue or a lacquer coat at the end of the Jacquard heald and the fastening element in the region of the spiral. This coat could be automatically sprayed on.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a Jacquard heald with an elastic retractor and fastening element according to the invention,

FIG. 2 shows an enlargement of the lower end of the Jacquard heald,

FIG. 3 shows the fastening element in an enlarged scale, and

FIGS. 4 and 5 show two possibilities of how to fix a wire spiral on the Jacquard heald.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 the Jacquard heald 1 is attached to an elastic thread or member 2 secured to a fastening element 3. The ends of the thread 2 are entwined in the helical wire spiral 4 of the Jacquard heald l and in the spiral 5 of the fastening element 3. The loop 1 1 above the spi ral 4 does not belong to the invention and serves only for lining-up the Jacquard healds.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged part-view of the Jacquard heald l with the wire spiral 4 and the elastic thread 2.

FIG. 3 shows how the elastic thread 2 is inserted into the wire spiral 5 of the fastening element 3. The illustration of how the elastic thread 2 is tied in by the spirals 4 and 5 is slightly exaggerated. This is achieved due to the fact that the inside diameter of the wire spirals 4 and 5 is kept slightly smaller than the diameter of the elastic thread 2. The elastic thread 2 can by means of a simple operation be inserted into the spiral by curling the rubber thread into the individual windings of the spiral. This operation could of course be also done automatically by means of a suitable machine.

For additional safety of the curled in elastic thread the sections in the regions of the spirals 4 and 5 could be sprayed by lacquer or glue.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, two alternatives are illustrated showing a spiral 8 & 10 made as a separate or component part which can be fitted onto Jacquard heald 1. The end of Jacquard heald 1 gets bent and forms a hook 6 as shown in FIG; 4. An extended spiral 8 is pushed over the slightly open hook 6. The shank 7 of the hook 6 receives therefore a pre-tension which secures the spiral 8 in position.

FIG. 5 shows a similar mounting method. In the twin wire on the end of the Jacquard heald 1 a loop 9 is made. While sliding the spiral 10 over this section the loop 9 is entwined and the spiral 10 is fixed in its position.

The diameter of the spirals 8 and 10 respectively will be determined on one side by the gauge of the wire of the Jacquard heald 1 and on the other side by the crosssection of the elastic thread 2. The connections of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be soldered after the spirals 8 and 10 have been slid on.

It would also be possible to provide a loop at the lower end of the Jacquard heald 1 the same as the loop at the upper end, and to provide the elastic thread 2 with a similar fastening element as shown in FIG. 3 to be connected into the loop at the lower end. The fastening element 3 could be equipped with a carbine hook to ensure a safe connection.

As elastic thread it would be appropriate to use a thread having a core made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or plastic material which could be covered by cotton or rayon threads.

What is claimed is:

1. In the combination of a Jacquard heald and a fastening element coupled by an elastic retraction cord connected at its one end to the heald and at its other end to the fastening element, the improvement characterized by the connections between the heald and the elastic cord and the fastening element and the elastic cord being made by spaced helical wire spirals which coil around and entwine the ends of the elastic cord, the inside diameter of the spirals being smaller than the outside diameter of the elastic cord, wherein the spirals are formed by the ends of the heald and the fastening element.

2. In the combination of a Jacquard heald and a fastening element coupled by an elastic retraction cord connected at its one end to the heald and at its other end to the fastening element, the improvement characterized by the connections between the heald and the elastic cord and the fastening element and the elastic cord being made by spaced helical wire spirals which coil around and entwine the ends of the elastic cord, the inside diameter of the spirals being smaller than the outside diameter of the elastic cord, wherein the heald spiral comprises a separate element soldered to the heald. 

1. In the combination of a Jacquard heald and a fastening element coupled by an elastic retraction cord connected at its one end to the heald and at its other end to the fastening element, the improvement characterized by the connections between the heald and the elastic cord and the fastening element and the elastic cord being made by spaced helical wire spirals which coil around and entwine the ends of the elastic cord, the inside diameter of the spirals being smaller than the outside diameter of the elastic cord, wherein the spirals are formed by the ends of the heald and the fastening element.
 2. In the combination of a Jacquard heald and a fastening element coupled by an elastic retraction cord connected at its one end to the heald and at Its other end to the fastening element, the improvement characterized by the connections between the heald and the elastic cord and the fastening element and the elastic cord being made by spaced helical wire spirals which coil around and entwine the ends of the elastic cord, the inside diameter of the spirals being smaller than the outside diameter of the elastic cord, wherein the heald spiral comprises a separate element soldered to the heald. 